Metro News & Reviews

Starting Thursday, Caltrans will close the southbound I-5 off-ramp at Pioneer and Imperial for the next 8 months. Here’s the release from Caltrans:

Caltrans will fully close the southbound Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5) off-ramp at Pioneer Boulevard/Imperial Highway beginning Thursday, August 15 at 8 a.m. The ramp will remain fully closed for eight months, through April 2014, when a new elevated off-ramp is complete and re-opens.

The work is part of the $1.6 billion I-5 South Corridor Improvement Projects to widen the freeway by adding one general purpose lane and one High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) or carpool lane, in both directions from the Los Angeles County/Orange County line to I-605.

Upon completion, the Ramp Re-vamp will extend the new Pioneer/Imperial Highway off-ramp nearly 1,200 feet from the widened freeway, and it will flyover Pioneer Blvd. to put traffic onto Imperial Hwy. Motorists will exit the new off-ramp using one lane, but the ramp will widen to three lanes at Imperial Hwy.

During the Ramp Re-vamp and the full ramp closure, southbound I-5 motorists will have access to off-ramps at Lakewood/Rosecrans; Florence Ave.; and San Antonio Dr./Norwalk Blvd. To accommodate increased traffic demand on the southbound I-5 San Antonio/Norwalk off-ramp, it will be restriped and a new signal at Union St./San Antonio Dr. will be modified.

The $302 million I-5 HOV Imperial Highway and Pioneer Boulevard Project will widen nearly two miles of freeway by adding one HOV lane and one regular lane in each direction from Silverbow Avenue to Orr and Day Road. The bridges at San Antonio Drive, Imperial Highway, and Pioneer Boulevard will be rebuilt to accommodate the wider freeway. In addition to the new off-ramp at Imperial Hwy, other improvements include new sound walls and frontage roads. The contractor is Security Paving, Inc.

The project is primarily funded ($167.5 million) by Proposition 1B, a 2006 voter-approved transportation bond. The project also received $104 million in state transportation funds and $30.5 million from Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) Proposition C and Measure R. The project is overseen by Caltrans and funding is administered by Metro.

The public is encouraged to sign-up to receive email notifications on freeway lane and ramp closures and local city street closures by calling the I-5 South Corridor Improvement ProjectsToll-Free Information line at (855) 454-6335 or by visiting www.I-5info.com